Making the most out of your Presentations & Installations:
Chill Yogurt Cafe, a Self Serve Frozen Yogurt Store, Opened it’s 6 location Enterprise Store
If Presentation is everything, Chill Yogurt Cafe has everything. Excellent design and placement leads to their continuing success. Using Cafe Cartel’s Altera 3400S solution they have come to a fast, consistent and powerful solution for their frozen yogurt stores.
Taking your Installations to the Next Level:
CCS Integrates with Mercury’s Loyalty Plan What does this mean for our CCS Clients?
Customer loyalty is the measure of success a business experiences in retaining long term relationships with their customers. These days businesses are aware that social media is a must. Facebook has over 700 million users with 50% of those users logging in on a daily basis. As you can imagine social media is a valuable tool in terms of both customer service and customer engagement.
This is where socialized loyalty programs come in. Having a loyalty rewards program is important, but it’s when you socialize that rewards programs that your ROI is exponential. Enter Mercury's Loyalty Program
The Socialized Loyalty allows integration with Social Media, such as Facebook. This can be really exciting, here's a few bullet points on it
- Customers will have Automatic Facebook Check Ins when in the loyalty program (Options to include coupons on the check ins). This is no longer just loyalty for an individual, the application of social media provides a testimonial of quality to the friends of your customers.
- You potentially can double, triple or more your business based on referral business. Rather than trying to get one customer to come back maybe once or twice a month more (based on our studies of our data traditional loyalty doesn't change returning behavior) Cell Phone Based - This means they can't loose their loyalty card
- Text Messaging Reminders - Send them a birthday present, remind them they haven't been in a while. You can't make a loyalty card vibrate in their pocket, but a text message can reach out to them if they haven't seen you in a month.
These programs have recurring fees and fees for text messaging. However, the marketing edge is so strong they should easily make for easy ROI and much more.
Credit Card Integration
We support all major processors, EMV Chip readers. NFC Payments, Swiped, Debit and EBT.
QuickBooks Integration
Integrate with Quickbooks. Easily upload the information at any time.
Rewards Loyalty and Gift Cards
CCS will keep track of rewards programs, and gift cards as well as store credit. No addition fees!
DVR Surveillance Integration
Integrate your POS with your DVR to increase your security and oversight
Barcode Scanner Options
Use scanners not just for barcodes, but also drivers licenses, gift cards, rewards cards.
Data Collector
Used for inventory reconciliation, purchase orders. Remotely count your items, scan in purchase orders.
Integrated Payroll
Integrate with payroll service. And easily upload files to your service if we do not currently integrate with your payroll company.
Fingerprint Scanner
Increase security by reducing staff stealing yours and others codes, also make it easier to log in and clock in!
WIC / EBT Processing
Accept Wic/EBT Payments through your POS. Properly calculate the items included
Frozen Yogurt Industry News - Divide and conquer with this revolutionary cup divider.
I don't know about you, but I am pretty excited about these frozen yogurt cup dividers. Think of you favorite frozen yogurt combinations what ever they may be. Now let me ask you a question, do you have some top favorites that you wouldn't necessarily want to mix together? Do you sometimes find yourself standing in front of the self-serve yogurt machines unable to make up your mind? Have you ever considered just getting two cups for yourself so you can have the flavor combinations you want?
Well now you can have the best of both worlds with out having to tell the frozen yogurt cashier that one of the frozen yogurts is for a friend. Introducing the Frozen Yogurt Cup Divider. This simple and yet revolutionary addition solves all those issues. Think about it, if you are a frozen yogurt store owner, you are able to offer more and meet the needs of your clientele. Some shop owners have already noticed a difference in the speed of customers picking and choosing their flavors. And what is more, and possibly the best part for store owners, the dividers don't add any weight. That's right you heard correctly, no added weight which means no price changing or scale calibrating. Just place the dividers by the cups and promote to all your local, social media and current customer communities and watch your business grow.
Integrates with Digital Persona's Fingerprint Biometric Scanner for Point of Sale
Many retail and restaurant owners and managers are experiencing difficulties with finding the right login method for their point of sale system. There are issues with PIN's being stolen, and cards not working, being forgotten or stolen as well. Your Iphone can have it, so can your POS.
- Losing or misplacing the card
- Costly
- Stolen cards being mis-used
Pin-codes (usually a familiar 4 digit code) can solve the problem of costs and misplacement, but there seems to still be issues with employees using a code that is not theirs. Whether the reasons being legitimate or less than desirable, it is a cause for concern to many store owners. Cafe Cartel decided to find a solution that could solve this problem that was simple and cost effective.
With Digital Persona's Biotmentric Finger Scanner their is no confusion on who has been using the POS. This solution easily integrates with Cafe Cartel's Point of Sale Software and is installed through USB with no need for configuration. The fingerprint scanner is simple, just register the user's finger print and associate it with a code.
Fingerprint Scanner IntegrationCredit Card Integration
We support all major processors, EMV Chip readers. NFC Payments, Swiped, Debit and EBT.
QuickBooks Integration
Integrate with Quickbooks. Easily upload the information at any time.
Rewards Loyalty and Gift Cards
CCS will keep track of rewards programs, and gift cards as well as store credit. No addition fees!
DVR Surveillance Integration
Integrate your POS with your DVR to increase your security and oversight
Barcode Scanner Options
Use scanners not just for barcodes, but also drivers licenses, gift cards, rewards cards.
Data Collector
Used for inventory reconciliation, purchase orders. Remotely count your items, scan in purchase orders.
Integrated Payroll
Integrate with payroll service. And easily upload files to your service if we do not currently integrate with your payroll company.
Fingerprint Scanner
Increase security by reducing staff stealing yours and others codes, also make it easier to log in and clock in!
WIC / EBT Processing
Accept Wic/EBT Payments through your POS. Properly calculate the items included
More than 5 Effective ways on How to use Facebook for Your Business
Facebook is an excellent tool for your business. It’s safe to say nearly everyone is familiar with it - some more so than others. Whether you’re a well-seasoned Facebooker or a newbie, this article will provide valuable insights on how to use this tool for your small business specifically.
Why You Need to be on Facebook: Getting Your Name Out There
Getting your business name “out there” can be a costly task. Many small businesses simply can’t afford the associated costs with developing a premier online presence. Not to mention marketing expenses as well. Of course, there are resources for building your online platform without going over your budget. This includes using Facebook to your advantage.
Many small businesses use Facebook in place of an official website. Though it’s not ideal, it's a place to get started. Facebook provides searchability to your business that you otherwise wouldn’t have. Even if you have a website, Facebook is a leading social network that you should be taking advantage of regardless. Let’s not forget it has over 1 billion users, to say the least.
Additionally, many small businesses don’t optimize their website for mobile viewing. Facebook is mobile ready so you won’t risk the losing mobile customers due to mobile browsing frustrations. No one likes navigating a site too large or complex on their phones. They’ll simply go somewhere else.
Positive vibes are free on facebook. Keep your clients talkign about you and it's absolutely free advertising. The reality is that there is no sensible reason to not be taking advantage of Facebook. When you compare this to Groupon, and other paid tools, your outcome is long term and more effective.
Establishing Yourself on Facebook: Developing Your Online Presence
When first setting up your business profile, use a recognizable facebook picture. Select a visually pleasing cover photo that showcases your brand and company culture. Ideally the two images should coordinate aesthetically. Let’s be honest, people do judge a book by it’s cover...
Leave no stone unturned when it comes to address, phone number, website, etc. But most importantly always write a strong “About” paragraph. This is the #1 mistake business users make when creating a Facebook page for their business. Your about section should draw people in. Take the following as an example.
Don’t write something like: “City Vapor is an e-cig and vape shop located in Portland, Oregon. Stop by and check out our juices, mods and accessories.”
Do write something like: “City Vapor is a premier vape shop in Portland, Oregon that specializes in organics juices, quality mods and accessories. New customers and veterans always receive 10% off. We price match and take specialty requests. Call in or stop by to speak with a vaping expert today. Don’t forget to follow our facebook page to be the first ones notified of our weekly specials!”
Building Brand Loyalty on Facebook: Using a PR Strategy in Place of Paid Marketing
There’s a lot of articles online about using Facebook for your small business. Almost all of them suggest paying for advertising on Facebook. This is not the most sound advice if your business is on a budget. Overstretching your capital can run you into the ground. That’s why we suggest implementing basic PR principles to your Facebook account.
Public Relations is simply establishing your credibility and your brand. Use your Facebook account to promote testimonials of your company, news articles written about you, charities you’re involved in or anything that demonstrates your core values and niche. Most people see straight through advertising - which doesn’t necessarily provide trust or credibility to your potential customers anyways.
Connecting with Your Facebook Audience: Doing it The Right Way
Staying active on Facebook will ensure greater success for your business. By routinely posting and interacting with your followers, they will be more likely to go to your business instead of a competitor who doesn’t routinely post. Set yourself a posting schedule and stick to it. Being consistent is key. The optimal time for posting is between 1-4pm.
Always respond to complaints in a timely manner. In fact, try to do so within 24 hours. Always be professional and courteous in your replies.
Interact with your audience and thank them for coming in or for their kind words. People appreciate acknowledgement and will feel that you respect their business. Reward your loyal followers with special offers. Giveaways and surveys are a great way to engage with Facebook users to get some “shares” and “likes”.
Users are more inclined to read a post with a photo than one without. Choose appropriate images and videos that express your brand and niche. Use link posts to drive traffic to your website or other online platform.
Remember, your Facebook is not about you. It’s about your business and showing people what your business offers. Entangling your personal photos or any controversial content unrelated to your industry/niche would be inadvisable.
Facebook Beyond The Web: Promote Your Facebook Page at You Business Location
Promote your Facebook page at your business location to encourage others to stay in touch with your current specials and promotions. Next time you order business cards or flyers, add your facebook information and other social media platforms on them. Depending on your business type, for example let’s say a coffee shop, add it to your menu board. The goal here is to let people know where to find you so that you can stay in touch even when they’re gone.
Improving Your Sales in The Long Run: Further Advice For Your Business
We hope that this article has been of benefit for you. We‘ve been helping small businesses succeed since 2004 and provide them a variety of resources. To check out more helpful tools and tricks, check out our industry page for your business to see how you can continue to grow your business and reach your optimal potential.